As the result of all these studies, the Legislature on June 3, 1905, under chapter 724 of the laws of that year, authorized the work now being done by the Board of Water Supply. Mayor George B. McClellan on June 9, 1905, appointed the first members of the Board from three lists of three names each submitted at the Mayor's request by the Chamber of Commerce of New York, the Manufacturers' Association of Brooklyn and the Board of Fire Underwriters.

On October 9, 1905, the Board of Water Supply submitted for approval to the Board of Estimate and Apportionment a plan for obtaining from the Esopus, Rondout, Schoharie and Catskill creeks a supply of not less than 500,000,000 gallons of water daily at an estimated cost of $161,857,000. On October 27, 1905, this plan was unanimously approved by the Board of Estimate and Apportionment, and on November 3 of that year application was made to the State Water Supply Commission for its approval, as provided by law. On May 14, 1906, this approval was granted, exclusive of Schoharie, and in less than six months the first construction contract, for 11 miles of aqueduct, was advertised.

The completion of the plan for the delivery of Catskill water to all the boroughs of the City was first approved by the Board of Estimate and Apportionment on December 10, 1909, and again, after exhaustive investigation, under another City administration, on July 1, 1910. This plan for the delivery of water to all boroughs of the City increased the estimated cost by $15,000,000, the original plan of 1905 having included no provision for the delivery of water to the Boroughs of Manhattan, Queens and The Bronx. Such delivery was, of course, contemplated from the beginning, but the problem required prolonged study, and, therefore, a satisfactory scheme could not be elaborated in time to be embraced in the Board's first report, determining the general scheme for a new supply.

The Board of Water Supply also made an exhaustive investigation for an additional supply of water from Suffolk county, Long Island, supplementing work begun by the Burr-Hering-Freeman Commission. The Board's investigations included a complete scheme for adding this water to Brooklyn's present system for supply from Nassau County. So far as engineering and construction operations were concerned it would have been possible to

develop additional water in Suffolk county and deliver it to Brooklyn before the Catskill water could be delivered there, if a severe shortage of supply had made this necessary. Consequently, in accordance with the procedure required by law, application was made in 1908 by the Board of Estimate and Apportionment to the State Water Supply Commission, but, necessity for immediate construction having passed, the application has been withdrawn. The work done can, however, be utilized at any future date.

General Description of Catskill Water System

The four drainage areas, or watersheds, from which the City is authorized to draw a new supply, are situated west of the Hudson river, in the Catskill mountains, and lie between lines 75 and 135 miles from New York's City Hall. This region is sparsely settled. In the aggregate these watershels have an area of 914 square miles, and individually, as follows: Esopus, 257 square miles; Schoharie, 314 square miles; Rondout, 143 square miles: Catskill creek, 200 square miles, including several small contiguous areas helping to make up the grand total. From this gathering ground it is estimated that even in a series of extraordinarily dry years 760,000,000 gallons daily can surely be drawn the year through. The figures just given are based upon the additional surveys, rainfall records and stream-flow gagings up to date, and differ somewhat from the earlier figures. To collect these waters for the City's use several large impounding reservoirs are to be created from time to time, as found necessary, and inter-connected by aqueducts. Only the Esopus watershed has been developed, but its sole reservoir, known by the Indian name of Ashokan, is by far the largest and most important of them all. From this reservoir the Catskill aqueduct conveys the water into all the five boroughs of the City. Within the City limits the aqueduct, known here as the City tunnel, lies from 200 to 750 feet below the street surface. It extends to two terminal shafts in Brooklyn whence steel and iron pipe conduits continue into the Boroughs of Queens and Richmond. Although in a series of dry years the Esopus watershed cannot be depended upon to supply more than 250,000,000 gallons each day, the Catskill aqueduct has, for economic reasons, been constructed of at least 500,000,000 gallons daily capacity.

Extended investigations, including topographic surveys and borings, were made downstream from Prattsville on Schoharie creek, and disclosed an excellent dam site at Gilboa. With a dam placed here, a watershed of about 314 square miles can be developed to furnish a dependable daily yield of 250 million gallons or enough to furnish, with the Esopus supply, at least 500 million gallons daily, or the full capacity of Catskill aqueduct. Water from Schoharie reservoir will pass through a 16 2/3-mile tunnel to Esopus creek and flow into Ashokan reservoir. This watershed is to be developed next so as to utilize the full capacity of the Catskill aqueduct. It will take nearly 8 years to make this additional water available in the City.

From the Ashokan reservoir situated in the foot-hills of the Catskill mountains it is almost a 3-days' journey for the water, at the average velocity of flow through the aqueduct to the Silver Lake terminal reservoir in the Borough of Richmond; this borough is Staten Island, surrounded by the sea, at the southerly entrance to New York bay. In this distance of 120 miles the Catskill aqueduct skirts along many a steep hillside, pierces mountains, descends beneath rivers and wide, deep valleys, traverses the Boroughs of the Bronx, Manhattan and Brooklyn, and crosses The Narrows of New York harbor. From Ashokan reservoir to the City's northern boundary there are 92 miles of aqueduct, and between that reservoir and Croton Lake, the principal basin on the Croton watershed, there are 64 miles.

Construction operations have been in progress over nine years. The development of the Esopus watershed is completed, from which a daily yield of 250,000,000 gallons is obtainable.

Work under construction and projected includes a number of superstructures for the chambers containing the apparatus for controlling the flow of water, and accessories of the aqueduct, such as apparatus for pumping out the pressure tunnels.

The Ashokan Reservoir

Ashokan reservoir, about 14 miles west of the Hudson at Kingston, was built under contracts amounting, together with the expense for relocating highways and the Ulster and Delaware railroad, to nearly $20,000,000. The water which this reser

voir holds would cover all Manhattan island to a depth of 30 feet; the area of its surface is equivalent to that of Manhattan below 110th street. The Olive Bridge dam, across Esopus creek, the Beaver Kill and Hurley dikes, across smaller streams and gaps between the hills forming the natural walls of the reservoir, the Dividing dike and weir dividing the reservoir into two basins, and the Waste weir over which the surplus flood waters may safely be discharged, are the principal structures of the reservoir.

Olive Bridge dam is a massive structure consisting of a central masonry portion flanked by earth dikes, or embankments, known as the North and South wings. The masonry part, founded on solid ledge-rock, is built of cyclopean concrete with pre-cast concrete face blocks. The wings of the Olive Bridge dam and the dikes are built of selected earth spread in layers 4 or 6 inches thick and compacted by heavy rollers. Each dike has a concrete core-wall extending to ledge-rock or into very compact impervious earth foundation.

The bottoms and slopes of the reservoir basins have been cleared of trees, brush, buildings and other objectionable things. Around the reservoir new highways, aggregating about 40 miles in length. requiring the construction of 10 new bridges all of reinforced concrete, have been substituted for the submerged roads. One of these bridges, at Traver Hollow, is a 3-hinged arch of 200-foot span, and Ashokan bridge, crossing the reservoir on the Dividing weir, is 1,120 feet long and has 15 arches of 67.5-foot span.

Camp and Equipment at Ashokan Reservoir

In all contracts requiring work on the watersheds or along the aqueduct sanitary clauses were inserted so that the health of employees, of local communities, and of people using water from the drainage areas affected by the construction operations would be safeguarded. Employees violating sanitary rules were summarily dismissed and not again employed. Ample supplies of wholesome water were insisted upon, as well as good food and sanitary conditions generally. A brief description of the largest camp will show clearly the scope of these precautions. As administered the sanitary precautions proved effective. The death rate, exclusive of accidents, has averaged only about 3.5 per thousand in the camps.

The work on the dam and dikes at Ashokan reservoir required an army of 3,000 men who lived, many of them with their families, in a camp built by the contractors near the work. The camp was divided into Italian and Negro sections, while white Americans lived separately. There were provided sewerage and water-supply systems, a special plant for the disposal of sewage, good dwellings, generally one-story wooden structures with screens on all doors and windows, well-laid-out. streets, electric lights, telephones, savings bank, hospital, general store, bakery, police, fire protection, a kindergarten and schools for children, churches, Young Men's Christian Association and a post-office. The maximum population was approximately 4,500. An evening school for men was one of the features of the camp. Besides the Camp City, there were other smaller camps on outlying parts of the work.

For constructing this reservoir, the contractors assembled plants (machinery, railroads, derricks, etc.), costing much more than a million dollars. These plants included approximately 30 miles of railroad, 33 locomotives, 579 cars, 60 derricks, 7 cableways, 16 steam rollers, 19 steam shovels, a steel trestle bridge 390 feet long and 85 feet high, air-compressors, stone crushers, concrete mixers, etc., etc. Quarries were opened in the nearby hills to obtain stone, and several hills of clayey earth were dug away to build the earth dams.

18